Contents

"For the first time in a long time
...everything was right in my
world... and then I woke up."
I can remember when,
In the unity of our five-day sessions
Not even once did we hear the siren
song
What kind of imagination
Asleep in some lyrical coma
Who's vain futile memory
Could have been so wrong?
You can make a fortune in lies
You can keep a giant alive
You can ride the red
Until everybody smiles
A trifling euphoria
was such an untimely religion
maybe your life can explain
the reason for my indecision
Here is a poor man
the heart of this monster creation
He said we both will be heroes
and I was led into temptation
You can make a fortune in lies
You can keep a giant alive
You can ride the red
Until everybody smiles
Can you show me your gold
and your silver?
A hero in frozen water
Now you've made a fortune in lies
and you kept a giant alive
You rode the red
You rode the red

According to Petrucci, the song is about a friend of the band's that was arrested for theft and the experiences gained from that. The lyrics are considerably abstract, and no direct references are made. The spoken word quote at the beginning of the song is taken from an unnamed television documentary on prison, which is the only direct reference. It is unknown who exactly the subject of the song is, with Petrucci only offering the vague "a friend".

A Fortune in lies, much like the rest of the album, does not get performed live by the band very often, though it is performed more often than many of the other songs on it. Live performances of the song are straightforward, with no drastic changes. In some instances while performing A Change of Seasons, Dream Theater will end the song with the first three notes of A Fortune in Lies.